The Good Glow : Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good

We praise those people who do things for others. But the symbolic power of giving means individuals can take advantage of the glow of 'goodness' that charity provides. This book analyses the reality of how charity operates in the social world; how the personal benefits of giving and volunteering are vital for getting charitable acts to happen; how the altruism associated with gifts isn't always what it seems; how charity misbehaviour or bad management gets overlooked; and how charity symbols are weaponised against those who don't participate. Drawing on original data and a novel application of the sociology of Bourdieu, this book examines a wide range of examples from culture, politics and society to provide an entertaining critique of how contemporary charity works.|We praise those people who do things for others. But the symbolic power of giving means individuals can take advantage of the glow of 'goodness' that charity provides. This book analyses the reality of how charity operates in the social world; how the personal benefits of giving and volunteering are vital for getting charitable acts to happen; how the altruism associated with gifts isn't always what it seems; how charity misbehaviour or bad management gets overlooked; and how charity symbols are weaponised against those who don't participate. Drawing on original data and a novel application of the sociology of Bourdieu, this book examines a wide range of examples from culture, politics and society to provide an entertaining critique of how contemporary charity works.

We praise those people who do things for others. But the symbolic power of giving means individuals can take advantage of the glow of 'goodness' that charity provides. This book analyses the reality of how charity operates in the social world; how the personal benefits of giving and volunteering are vital for getting charitable acts to happen; how the altruism associated with gifts isn't always what it seems; how charity misbehaviour or bad management gets overlooked; and how charity symbols are weaponised against those who don't participate. Drawing on original data and a novel application of the sociology of Bourdieu, this book examines a wide range of examples from culture, politics and society to provide an entertaining critique of how contemporary charity works.

As austerity measures have led to greater struggles over limited governmental funding, there has in recent years been increasing interest in Payment by Results, or Payment for Success, as a model for commissioning social services. A Social Impact Bond, or Pay for Success Bond, is a type of social service contract where the financing is provided by private entities, with the idea that this will unlock new capital investment and advance social good by limiting funding to projects that are needed and likely to succeed. This book looks at that assumption and evaluates the relatively limited current research on the effectiveness of the approach, making the case that more study is needed if investment of this sort is going to continue to grow. Front cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of figures and tables About the author Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Giving and getting: Using charity’s symbolic power 3. #humblebrags and the good giving self on social media 4. Charities, expertise and policy 5. The kids aren’t alright: The collapse of Kids Company 6. Poppy fascism 7. Effective altruism and ignoring charity’s symbolic power 8. Conclusions: The good glow References Methodological appendix Index Back cover We praise those people who do things for others. But the symbolic power of giving means glow of 'goodness' that charity provides can be taken advantage of. Drawing on original data and Bourdieu's sociology, this book examines a wide range of charity examples to provide an entertaining critique of how contemporary charity works.